European shares edge lower on disappointing company updates

Redacción de Reuters

1 MIN. DE LECTURA

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday after disappointing company updates, with Denmark’s Novo Nordisk leading the market down and Finnish retailer Kesko weakening on lower-than-expected sales.

Novo Nordisk fell 6.7 percent, making it the biggest faller in the STOXX 600, after the world’s top maker of diabetes drugs said fourth-quarter operating profit came in below forecasts.

Kesko shares were down more than 6 percent after the company registered net sales of 2.77 billion euros in the fourth quarter. A Reuters poll had predicted the company’s net sales at 2.95 billion.

However, losses were capped by companies including Reckitt Benckiser, which rose 5 percent after saying that it was in advanced talks to buy baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition in a $16.7 billion deal. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Louise Ireland)